When Mumbaikars woke up on Sunday morning, they could breathe easily in air that was less polluted than it had been in the past week.
After six consecutive days of registering poor air quality, the air condition in the city improved to ‘moderate’.
Continuous release of toxic smoke from the fire at the Deonar dumping yard had increased the level of air pollutants in the lower atmospheric air.
For the past six days, the air quality index remained as high as 300 mg/m3, a reading which according to the guidelines of World Health Organisation (WHO) categorised the air in ‘poor’ quality.
However, on Sunday, the air quality improved to 190 mg/m3, which made the city air condition ‘moderate’. According to WHO guidelines, moderate air quality causes lesser harm to peoples’ health. This is according to the data provided by SAFAR (System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research) that monitors air quality of the city.
“The air condition improved at lot since Saturday night as the smoke emitted from the Deonar dumping yard decreased. The air condition might improve further in coming days,” said an officer from Safar.
However, environmentalists raised the need to take stern steps to curb the continuous incidences of fire break out at the dumping yard.
“Every time there is any break out in the dumping yard at Deonar, it not only affects the people nearby but also affects the whole city. Thousands of people breathe the toxic air released from the fire. Its effect is not realised quickly but slowly. The municipality needs to focus on segregation of garbages and also provide proper security to the area,” said Rishi Aggarwal, an environmentalist
